Anderson Cooper reports on govt’s failure in Tacloban

CNN’s popular journalist Anderson Cooper is in Tacloban to personally see and report on the destruction wrought by super typhoon Yolanda and the government’s shortcomings in providing relief and rescue.

Top foreign journalists led by CNN’s Anderson Cooper who flew to Tacloban City to report on the devastation wrought by typhoon Yolanda criticized the government for moving too slowly to bring aid to victims.

In his Twitter account, Cooper said: “”It looks like the end of the world, for many here it was…The people in Tacloban have great dignity and deserve better than what they have gotten”.

“The search and rescue never materialized.. There is no real evidence of organized recovery or relief,” Cooper said in another tweet.

Cooper also tweeted saying it’s not clear who is in charge and that he has not seen a large Philippine military presence nor food and heavy machineries to turn things around.

He said: “”They are saying ‘I need food and water, why are there still bodies?’”

In his on-air comments, Cooper described the situation in the battered city as “miserable,” observing that the government had not even set up a feeding center five days after the storm struck.

The veteran CNN journalist also noted in one of his tweets that “Haiyan’s youngest victims are also some of the most vulnerable.”

Cooper contrasted the slow action in Tacloban to the swift response of the Japanese government during the tsunami in 2011.

“When I was in Japan, right after the tsunami there two years ago, within a day or two, you had Japanese defense forces going out, carving up cities into grids and going out on foot looking for people, walking through the wreckage. We have not seen that here in any kind of large-scale operation,” Cooper said.

Cooper’s tell-it-as-it-is reporting came a day after President Benigno Aquino did an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour where he said the death toll should be around 2,500 and not 10,000 as earlier quoted. As of Wednesday evening, latest data released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed the validated number of fatalities from the monster storm has reached 2,344 already with 3,804 injured and 79 missing. Observers believe the number of deaths will soon exceed the conservative estimate Aquino gave to Amanpour.

CNN’s critical assessment of the government relief efforts dovetailed with observations by local journalists at the scene.

ABS-CBN’s Ted Failon, in his nightly news program TV Patrol, pointed out that most roads in Tacloban City were still littered with bodies and debris, two nights after President Aquino went on the air to report that major roads have had been cleared.

The French news agency AFP reported that thousands of Tacloban residents remained outside the destroyed airport hoping to fly out of the city.

ABS-CBN’s radio and TV news anchor, Korina Sanchez, meanwhile made a remark in her program that Cooper doesn’t know what he is talking about.This triggered an avalanche of angry comments directed to Sanchez, with many questioning her credibility for being the wife of Interior Sec. Mar Roxas who was among the officials supposedly on top of the situation in the typhoon-ravaged provinces. Those who commented also pointed to the fact that Sanchez was reporting inside the comforts of the TV network, while Cooper has flown all the way to Tacloban to be on the ground and see with his own eyes the extent of the horror left by Yolanda.

As for Cooper, one of his well thought-out tweets hit the nail in the head: “This story gets sadder by the hour…”, an observation confirmed by a later tweet: There are mothers searching for their children, it is a sickening sight five days later”.

TO TOGBITS: From the get go of your posted comment, YOU said, as an OFW away from the Philippines, “you’re not in any position to judge or claim about effectiveness or ineffectiveness of govt. handling the devastation done by Yolanda”.

TOGBITS, you’re still away from the Philippines, and away from Tacloban City and like Korina Sanchez away from where Anderson Cooper reporting LIVE COVERAGE (real time) didn’t have any grounds to JUDGE OR CLAIM any “INEFFECTIVENESS” of Coopers reporting. YOU MUST admit that Cooper,”unlike Sanchez” is a well known Anchor of AC360 CNN broadcaster that’s watch in the whole world for which, he covers all aspects of news and has covered international events from local cities of USA, to Haiti, Indonesia, Japan, (Including Wars In )Iraq, afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. and for YOU and Korina Sanchez to negatively past judgement on his reporting are both IDIOT and totally uninformed! Read these 200+ comments in this blog, and see how many are in support of Cooper’s handling the real time event in Tacloban. There’s a saying that goes “Little knowledge is Dangerous” expand your knowledge, watch CNN, get on the news on internet, read newspaper, I guarantee it will keep you inform.

ALSO AN OFW for 47 years.

Jonas Solis

nice. very well said .. 2 thumbs up .. :p

jhorgenoyco

Thank you Mr Cooper to show the World how corrupt and unreliable and incompetent our government areThank you for expossing them to the World so Now My brother and Sister my fellow pilipino can have a decent Goverment not a celebrity not a son or daughter or relative of past president or senators who r celebrity we need a real qualifed to run n manage our country we should cut there pay check in half so we know they r here to help not to corrupt THANK YOU AGAIN MR COOPER THANK YOU TO OTHER COUNTRY THAT PRAY N HELP US WHEN WE NEEDED THE MOST THANK YOU U S MILITARY FOR EVERYTHING

Anjo de Los Reyes

Cooper is reporting what he sees, Corina is sensitive as a wife who’s husband is on the ground in Tacloban. Let’s go back to what can be done to help the people in Tacloban.

eleanor

i don’t like the fact about Anderson Cooper’s criticism on how” slow” the Philippine government response is compare to how Japanese government had a “swift” response to aid their own people during the Tsunami in Japan two years ago. Duh! Mr Anderson Cooper, Japan is one of the most powerful nation in the world, that’s why. They have the resources even before it happened, they have the high tech machineries.Philippines, still a third world country! So for him to tweet the world how “slow” the Philippine government is, then I dare him to show the government what’s efficient way without any criticism, give Tacloban City his Gazillion dollars since you are super rich and don’t judge one bit. Put up or shut up! Stop dividing people by comparing apples and oranges….. Go ahead Mr anderson Cooper, set up a tent and have your own “Operation Tulong” if you are so feeling bad for my own people…